Pretty standard if you ask me. My tastes have developed and now i like more complex or refined fragances (par example, at the beginning i hated Hermes, now i appreciate it). Now I'm more in the line of liking things like Habit Rouge, Bel Ami, Patchouli Noir and... you know... even kourus or antaeus seems to work nice in my skin (it eats up fragances)

So I'm asking you for recommendations. Don't go too "Niche". Here the most "niche" I can find is Serge Lutens.
Thanks in advance!

In general, considering almost everything you have is a gourmand pretty much, with some Fresh fragrances, most things will seem elegant next to them. All those ones I mentioned are unique, and perhaps elegant. Sorry I recommended too many Niche fragrances, but I had to. Oh and if you mean Mature and formal by elegant, I can think of quite a few cheapies: CK Obsession, Burberry London, Silver Shadow. But when you say Unique and elegant it strikes me as something Niche and high quality

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

I agree that an oud and a vetiver are indispensible to a well-balanced fragrance wardrobe. (But these are by far my two favorite notes, so maybe I'm a bit biased.)

My recs: YSL's M7 or L'Artisan's Al Oudh for the former (yes, I know L'Artisan is a niche brand but it shouldn't be too hard to find a sample, especially by mail order); and Guerlain's Vetiver or Encre Noire for the latter.

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

I recently checked out a cologne called Tous in Heaven that is a Spanish-based company. I bet there is a store near you that carries it. It's a youthful scent that is dark, fruity, and quite sexy as well. Check it out next time you are in a Tous store.

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

Originally Posted by vonMises

You live in Spain, and nothing by Puig or Loewe? At least try Sybaris. Is Quorum popular there?

And then there is the famous Loewe house -- how about their stuff?

Sybaris?... quorum over here is a "supermarket" fragance... they sell it among the Antonio Banderas and other cheap houses.
For me, Loewe is overpriced here. It has "niche" prices and I don't get well with them. Maybe with Esencia, but for the price, i'd get any other.

The price is not the problem. The problem is the lack of shops with niché fragances. Without ordering online, I only have access to Serge Lutens, Etro or maybe Creed (but what i've tested so far i haven't liked).

For Patchouli i was thinking about Patchouli Noir, by Il Profvmo. I have a small decant of Ambre Sultan, I'll test it before buying.

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

Originally Posted by BradW

I recently checked out a cologne called Tous in Heaven that is a Spanish-based company. I bet there is a store near you that carries it. It's a youthful scent that is dark, fruity, and quite sexy as well. Check it out next time you are in a Tous store.

I had a full bottle of it. Nice smell but very short lived. No longevity at all.

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

Originally Posted by Postumo

I'm thinking about buying some decants to try some of frederic malle, i have in mind musc ravageur, carnal flower, french lover and bigarade concentree.

Well, Honestly as much as I love Frederic Malle, I'd rather try another Niche house. Sure that house is in my top 5, but samples/decants of his fragrances are ridiculously expensive. You're looking at $10-$15 for a 2ml, $40-$60 for a 10ml, just try to find a local store, or experience with other Niche brands to know exactly what you're looking for before making an investment in such expensive samples, if you can find them for an affordable price, go for it by all means, I'm just warning you, you could get a full bottle that will make an actual addition to your wardrobe for the price of those 4 decants.

Here's a quick review, if it's any help:

Musc Ravageur: Incredibly good sweet, musky, powdery, creamy, vanilla fragrance. But looking at your wardrobe, it doesn't lack gourmands and sweet fragrances at all. Also it's not elegant or very unique, just an extremely well made fragrance.

French Lover: I judged this one too early from it's somewhat cheap, nasty opening. But I've come to learn that almost all of Frederic Malle fragrances have unimpressive or even bad openings, they're all about the dry down. I'm yet to fully experience this fragrance, but I can say it's hard for a beginner to wrap his head around it.

Carnal Flower: Floral explosion, with some melon in there and various other fruits. It's too strong and too floral for me. If you don't already love floral fragrances, I wouldn't recommend for you to start here, it's just too much.

Bigarade Concentree: Bitter, fresh orange, that gets creamier towards the dry down. Another lovely creation from the House, but considering how short it lasts, this is probably the only Frederic Malle I would absolutely not recommend paying the price for regardless of your taste. Hermes has a couple of similar orange fragrances that are cheaper and dare I say stronger. In general, and this is just my personal opinion, don't buy a niche fresh/aquatic/citrus fragrance unless you know you LOVE it. For one they last very short for the price, and also they tend do have that much variation or uniqueness.

I'd recommend vetiver extraordinaire, Iris Poudre, L'Eau D'Hiver, among various others. I'm sure you'll love musc ravageur, but your wardrobe is already full of sweet fragrances. Get an Aoud and a vetiver first at least.

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

The problem is that i'm not a fan of vetiver. Vetiver domined fragances are not between my favourites.
An Oudh i could get, some patchouli too. Seems that I need a good oriental... but vetiver are not high on my list. All the vetiver i've tested produce some kind of strange bad smell on my skin, cloying even. Damn skin chemestry!

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

Originally Posted by Postumo

The problem is that i'm not a fan of vetiver. Vetiver domined fragances are not between my favourites.
An Oudh i could get, some patchouli too. Seems that I need a good oriental... but vetiver are not high on my list. All the vetiver i've tested produce some kind of strange bad smell on my skin, cloying even. Damn skin chemestry!

Re: My wardrobe needs to be improved! help my find something unique!

Is there a Hermes Boutique in Seville?

If so you might find you can make up a sample set of 4 x 15ml of the Hermessences line. Not cheap but not stupidly expensive either - should be around USD 150, and you get four great niche scents to live with for a while. Vetiver Tonka and Ambre Narguille would top my list and I'm sure you'll find another couple.

If there is a standalone Chanel flagship store you might find Les Exclusifs line as well but you're stuck with 200ml bottles. Try Coromandel (chocolate patchouli) Sycomore (excellent vetiver) and Bois des Iles (don't be frightened by the aldehydes rush at the front, this is an excellent smooth luxe sandalwood).

If you have access to Lutens +1 on Daim Blond and Chergui and try Gris Clair (lavender) & Filles en Aiguilles (smoky pine) while you're at it